


halcyon days

by vannral



Category: The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: Conversations, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Fluff, M/M, Slice of Life
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-06-20
Updated: 2016-07-08
Packaged: 2018-07-16 05:58:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,849
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7255285
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/vannral/pseuds/vannral
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Barry keeps bumping into Snart. They end up having conversations, lunch and totally-accidental dates, where they fight, snark, exchange banter and maybe fall in love. But not necessarily in that order. Also appearance of some rats.</p><p>ON HIATUS</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Okay, so I'm pretty anxious about this. I want to do a short multi-chapter thing, WHICH I HAVE NOT DONE BEFORE, and I wanna keep it light-hearted and humorous. If I can do that. Things I find funny aren't probably funny, ANYWAY. Also, I haven't caught up with the show, but...let's see how this thing goes. As always please tell me if you see any grammar mistakes, not a native speaker here! :) Thank you!  
> EDIT: Sorry, had to fix some GLARING mistakes, I swear I'm so blind to some of them! Sorry!

     “Well, well, well, fancy meeting you here, Scarlet.”

Barry’s hand freezes to a halt, the ice cream cone stopping in mid-way, and his brains simply go: _Nope._

Nope, nope, _nope,_ just nope. He should just speed off, _but_ unfortunately, he’s not the _Flash now,_ and _why, why_ is Snart here? On this street with an ice cream stand, _of all possible things._ At night.

(Yeah, it occurs to Barry that it probably doesn’t look too smart, but hey, _he’s got ice cream.)_

And Snart just _happens_ to be there.

Barry isn’t sure how to deal.

He just _wanted to eat his ice cream_ in peace, alone.

Barry sighs and rubs his face with his free hand. “Please, _please_ tell me you’re not here to rob a bank right now. ‘Cause I’m not – not in the mood to be frozen right now. I just wanna eat this.”  

Snart looks terribly amused. He’s still wearing his stupid fluffy parka.

     “I’m a thief, but I _do_ have some standards.”  

     “Well, I don’t know, you could be bored? You’d probably think it’s hilarious or something. Especially ‘cause I’m eating this, which by the way, isn’t an endorsement, just ‘cause it’s frozen.”

     “Hmm-mmh, I like to think my humor is more… _sophisticated_ than that.”

Barry snorts, can’t help himself. This is so _ridiculous._

     “You use weird puns, Snart, I don’t think they’re _that_ sophisticated.”

     “They are _fitting_.” Snart’s gaze flickers down to Barry’s ice cream. “Aw, Central City’s hero buys his treats like everybody else. Cute.”

Barry’s smile drops, and he looks around frantically, in case someone’s heard, but there’s absolutely no one there, on the street. He hisses: “Wow, can you _not_ like, shout it? ‘Cause I don’t think the whole neighborhood heard you yet.”  

     “Oh, don’t worry, we still have our _deal_ ”, Snart drawls, like he’s stretching every single _word._  

Barry snorts again. “Wow, okay, whatever, you’re just throwing me out there, under the bus. No big deal. What are you doing here? If – not, you know, not picking a fight with me?”

     “Believe it or not, my life _doesn’t_ revolve around you”, Snart continues, like he’s _bored,_ and yeah, okay, Barry gets that.

     “Is Lisa doing okay?”

Snart’s eyes jump to Barry’s, instinctively narrowed, but then, he scoffs. “She got a new painting from our last heist. And for the record, it’s ugly and _not_ worth the trouble, but what can you do.” Snart’s gaze is intensive, unblinking. “Pity you didn’t show up.”

     “Sorry”, Barry says sheepishly. “Okay, so, was it expensive? No, wait, of course it was. It was from the new gallery, right?”

     “It wasn’t the _most_ expensive”, Snart says flatly, and Barry can tell he’s not too pleased with Lisa’s choice.

     “Bet you it looks pretty, though. Which still isn’t an endorsement, by the way.”

     “Hmph. _Hard_ to believe that. Gettin’ soft, are you? What were you doing, Barry?”

Barry flushes pink under that calculating, blue gaze. “Uh, stuff. With – with uh, in the sewers.”

Snart’s eyebrows lift in mild surprise. “Do I want to know _what_ was in the sewers?”

     “Huge rats, seriously, you don’t wanna go in there. Ugh. I had to take like, five showers.”

     “Got jumped by rats, hmm?”

     “Yeah! I mean, not really, 'cause it was dead, but can you believe it? But it wasn't like normal rats, _thanks._ I mean, I’ve seen _normal_ rats, but these – ugh. Cisco got some weird energy readings down there, so I…went to check it out.” Barry wrinkles his nose. “I just – saw a huge, dead rat. Like, enormous. We still don’t know what’s up with that.”

     “Never caught the culprit?”

     “No, and it’s freaking me out! Just – avoid sewers, okay?”

     “Please, I don’t use sewers as a getaway.”

     “Really? Never?”

     “No. Do you know how long those stretch? I _don’t_ fancy gettin’ lost down there.”

 Barry relaxes. “Okay, good. So, what are you doing now?”

     “Shopping. I’m out of ibuprofen.”

     “Are you okay?”

Snart stops, tilts his head and _looks_ at him, as if trying to gauge something. “Careful now, Barry. Don’t get too _cozy”,_ he drawls, but there’s a slight edge in his tone.

     “Sorry. Don’t rob?”

     “Don’t count on it, kid. Your ice cream’s melting. Be seeing you.”

As Barry watches Snart walking ahead, he thinks _that was probably one of the weirdest conversation ever._ With a villain. Okay.


	2. look at this work of art

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Duty calls.   
> EDIT: I seem to have technical trouble with Ao3 - sorry!

The next time Barry sees Snart is a week later, and this time, he’s ready to gnaw his own nails off, because his suggestion ‘don’t rob’ didn’t apparently _stick,_ so yeah, he ends up at the museum.

_Again._

It’s Snart _, and_ Lisa.

Lisa’s admiring a small statue, and Snart just seems bored, and it looks _so funny_ , like he’s completely fed up just being there, and it sends an unexpected surge of _warmth_ into Barry, almost making him pause.  _No._ He pushes it away. He has a crime to stop. Right?

Snart notices him first. 

     “Well, well, well, you don’t miss much”, he remarks smoothly and tilts the cold gun on his shoulder. “Evening, Red.”

     “Nice to see you back in action, honey”, Lisa chirps as she tilts her head to look at the statue. “Isn’t it lovely? It would look really good in my living room, Lenny.”

Snart rolls his eyes wryly. “No, it wouldn’t. Clashes with the painting.”

Lisa pouts. “I love that painting. It has _personality.”_  

     “Uh, no offense, but you’re not getting the statue”, Barry interrupts. 

     “Oh, _no,_ too classy for you, anyway, sis.”

     “Jerk. I’ve got _plenty_ of class. You’re no fun. Either of you.” Lisa hums thoughtfully. “Maybe not. I don’t care for the texture. Too shiny. That other one, on the left, though…”

     “So, what are you doing, _Scarlet?”_ Snart asks as his sister continues to browse through the paintings, like she’s shopping.

Barry’s slightly floored that he’s in this kind of situation. They’re in the middle of committing a crime, _and this is happening._ It’s pretty weird, but apparently weird is his new normal.

     “Uh, kind of – stopping you?” he offers and grimaces. “Yeah, sorry, that was pretty pathetic.” 

Snart’s eyes scan him, intensively that it almost makes Barry uncomfortable.

     “You’ve been busy, I see”, he says slowly. Barry has no idea what he means. 

     “Yeah, trying to. Like, right now. I should be stopping you. Her. Both of you? Whatever.”

     “So why aren’t you?” Snart counters calmly, with that smug _air_ about him that is so purely like _him._ It’s so _annoying._

     “I dunno, letting her have her fun?” he offers. 

It makes Snart pause. “Very kind of you”, he says, and Barry’s not sure if he’s being genuine or not. Probably not.

     “At least it’s not rats, and at this point, I’m ready to take anything that’s not rats.”

     “Oh, still giving you trouble?”

     “Hey, they were huge, and that energy anomaly stuff is freaking Cisco out. It’s messing with his equipment. Do you…um, happen to know anything about it?”

Snart pauses again, his brows knitted together. “Can’t say I do. Have to look around.”

     “God, _don’t._ Last thing I need is you to get involved with that mess”, Barry grimaces.

     “Hmm, maybe you have a point. Sewers are very old-school.”

     “ _I found it!”_ Lisa hollers excitedly at the end of the dark corridor. She’s holding a small, delicate statue that’s apparently a cat. Maybe. Barry’s not sure.  

Snart rolls his eyes. “Of course you did. At least it’s small.”

     “It’s a lion”, Lisa explains, beaming. “Can we go now? Hi, again, Flash.”

     “Hi. And you can’t really take that.”

Lisa purses her lips. “Why not? It’s going to look great in my apartment.”

     “Your apartment is _fine_ already _”,_ Snart sighs.

     “It’s even better _now.”_

     “No, it’s because I paid half of it.”

Lisa giggles. “You’re such a good brother.”

Snart doesn’t say anything.

Lisa flashes a bright smile at Barry. “Sorry, sweetie, but we’re on the clock here. Thanks for showing up, it made this grouch feel better, right, Lenny?” Snart doesn’t grace that with a response, but it doesn’t bother Lisa. She blows Barry a kiss. “See you later!” 

Many things happen at once. Lisa lifts her gun, a flash of _gold,_ and the floor is _shimmering_ \- Barry tries to _reach her –_ you know, to actually _do_ his job, but – his foothold slips, and with a glorious _crash,_ Barry ends up sliding on the floor and crashing against the wall, like a sack of potatoes. Upside down.

Wow. This isn’t going well. Like, _at all._

 He hears the screech of tires, as the Snart siblings make their escape. Mick was probably waiting outside with the car.

 _Shit._ Barry’s never gonna hear the end of it.

_*_

Since the last time didn’t go so well, and Barry wanted to disappear ‘cause _wow,_ that was embarrassing, he’s not happy to bump into Snart. _Again._ In the middle of the street. Someone clearly _hates_ him, this is a big _joke,_ and Barry doesn’t get the punch line. Of course, Snart thinks it’s hilarious; he’s _grinning,_ and Barry says immediately: “ _NO.”_

     “ _Ouch._ Grouchy, are we?” Snart says, very amused, but at this point Barry doesn’t give a shit.

     “Why is this _happening?_ Did you put a GPS on me?”

     “Now, _there’s_ a thought…but as tempting as that is, _no,_ Red, I haven’t. Not my style. These are just…pleasant coincidents.”

     “Pleasant”, Barry repeats. “What.”

     “By the way, Lisa thanks you; she loves that statue.”  

     “She’s welcome. And I hope it _ruins_ her decoration.”  

     “Well, it _is_ pretty gaudy, in my opinion, so no real loss there”, Snart agrees, and wow, it’s probably the first time they’re actually _agreeing_ on something.

     “And I didn’t _give_ it to her.”

     “No. Although you _did_ flail spectacularly. Very entertaining.”

     “ _No,_ it wasn’t, c’mon”, Barry says weakly.

Snart’s grin fades a little, as he looks at Barry more carefully. “Gotta say, kid, you haven’t been on top of the game for a while now. Don’t tell me you’re _giving_ up.”

     “What? What? _No._ That’s ridiculous. I _won’t,_ ‘cause you steal stupid stuff and pay your sister’s apartment, and this is _stupid,_ and why aren’t you _shooting_ at me?”

Snart lifts an eyebrow. “You _want_ me to shoot at you?” he asks with amusement.

     “No! ‘Course not. But the point is why _aren’t_ you?” Barry asks a bit petulantly. He _suspects_ it’s because of stress and insomnia and _anxiety_ and hello, Snart’s here _again,_ and this is weird, and

_rats –_

Yeah, Barry really, _really_ needs to sleep.  

     “ _Because,_ Barry, I’m a busy man”, Snart answers smoothly, and manages to sound a _little_ patronising, the _dick._ “See you later.”

     “Tell Lisa I really, _really_ don’t approve.”

     “Hmm, consider it done.”

     “Although she – probably doesn’t care, but I can be vindictive.”

     “Do you now?”

     “Uh huh. I’ll think of something.”

     “Ooh, scary.”

     “You had places to be, _Snart._ ”

     “So I do.”

Snart mock-salutes him and goes on his way. _What a dick._ Barry still can’t _quite_ believe they are doing this sort of thing. That this thing is still happening. He wonders if Oliver has similar troubles at Star City. Probably not. Great.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This multi-chapter-thing is kind of terrifying. PLOT WHAT PLOT I DON'T KNOW.


End file.
